Chapter 2294: Opera Chests
"We'll just have to play it by ear," Chang Qingyun said. Under normal circumstances, Liu Youwang's "ambition" could be worked on slowly—sowing discord and various other tricks could be employed. But with the grain fleet arriving any day now, there was no time for such games. He was more concerned about another matter:
"What about the opera chests? Have you made any progress? Liu Youwang asks about them every day. I hadn't realized the man was so obsessed with opera." He shook his head.
"I've located some opera chests," Yi Haoran smiled. "But there's no use in them. We can't get them out."
"Oh? Where are they?"
"Right inside the Three Headquarters—in the General Town Office warehouse." Yi Haoran explained, "I learned from an old clerk that during the Wanli era, the Eunuch Defender of Wuzhou loved opera. He brought an entire troupe and a complete set of opera chests all the way from the north. When he left office, the equipment was too cumbersome to move, so it was all left behind in Wuzhou. It's been sitting there for decades—untouched all these years. It should still be in good condition."
"That's as good as nothing." Chang Qingyun was disappointed. The Three Headquarters was now a restricted zone, with strict controls on all personnel coming and going. Even Liu Youwang himself had no way to extract opera chests from there.
"It may be useless, but at least it provides you with an excuse," Yi Haoran said.
"I suppose that's all I can do." Chang Qingyun nodded. "I should head back."
He rose to leave, but Yi Haoran suddenly called out: "Wait!"
"?"
"I just thought of a stratagem. I'm not sure if it's feasible..."
"Go on, I'm listening." Chang Qingyun was intrigued.
"The method still involves the opera chests."
"But we can't get them out. There's nothing to be done about it!"
Yi Haoran nodded. "With our abilities, naturally we can't. But if we get Liu Youwang to do it—it might just work."
"That... probably won't work." Chang Qingyun was doubtful. "Liu Youwang may have developed a fondness for opera recently, but he still understands priorities. The Three Headquarters is the Australians' forbidden ground now. Even if he wanted to go in, he'd have to notify them in advance. There's no way to take things out quietly..."
"Then let him take them out through proper channels," Yi Haoran said. "He's one of the local Australian chiefs, after all. Doesn't he have at least that much face?"
"That's hard to say." Chang Qingyun frowned. "This is exactly when warfare is at its fiercest. Wanting to assemble an opera troupe? Liu Youwang probably wouldn't dare even ask..."
He trailed off mid-sentence, suddenly stunned. A thought flashed through his mind—perhaps this could actually work! Chang Qingyun thought to himself. Considering this, he nodded: "Alright, let's try it."
"You have a method?"
"I can't promise ten out of ten success, but I'd say six or seven." Chang Qingyun said, "But first, tell me—what's your stratagem?"
"Listen carefully..."
Chang Qingyun returned to the camp and reported every detail about the opera chests to Liu Youwang.
"Old Chang, isn't this the same as finding nothing?" Liu Youwang said, somewhat dissatisfied. The Three Headquarters was now a restricted zone with tight entry and exit checks. Even naturalized citizens couldn't come and go freely—let alone move seven or eight large chests out!
"My apologies."
"Don't apologize. Just tell me—is there any other way? Surely the General Town Office isn't the only place with a full set of opera chests."
Chang Qingyun said, "Right now in all of Wuzhou city, the General Town Office is the only place with a complete set. These things were never something ordinary people could afford..." He paused, looking at Liu Youwang. "This student does have one other method."
Xie Erren had no idea that dark currents were surging beneath the surface, that someone was planning to show him "what's what." From his perspective, Wuzhou's situation had improved significantly. The battles in Guangxi were yielding one victory after another. Huang Chao in North Guangdong had also stabilized things—not only defeating the bandits but also containing the rioting Yao people within the Three Jurisdictions of Lianyang, preventing further spread. The rapidly expanding National Army, though lacking in combat effectiveness and suffering heavy losses, had effectively curtailed Xiong Wencan's strategy of "letting his soldiers turn bandit" by garrisoning various county seats and traffic routes and conducting regular patrols. Security throughout the region had visibly improved.
These victories were reflected in Wuzhou's public sentiment as a decline in various rumors. The "Australians can't hold on" rumor that had once sent dust flying and people panicking had gradually died down as reports of victory continued to arrive.
Even the most criticized issue—grain prices, which had once run wild like an unbroken horse—showed a small decline after news spread that the Australian grain fleet was about to arrive. This was the first such drop since Wuzhou's recovery.
This news had been deliberately leaked by naturalized citizen cadres on Xie Erren's orders after receiving word that the grain had departed from Sanshui. The effect had been brilliant. It was a small trick, to be sure, but it left Xie Erren feeling quite pleased with himself.
Public sentiment was gradually settling. Though small bands of bandits still caused trouble within Wuzhou's borders, they were no longer a serious concern. Security conditions inside and outside the city had improved markedly. Even the Assembly Bureau meetings he now convened rarely had absent representatives.
With all matters proceeding smoothly, Xie Erren felt a sense of satisfied ambition: Who would have thought he actually had talent for governance and administration! He had been somewhat anxious when he first applied for an external transfer to serve as a local chief official. When he went to discuss things with Liu Muzhou and Ming Lang, he'd felt even more uncertain—that conversation had lasted over an hour and, though seemingly casual, was clearly an "interview."
Though he had ultimately "passed"—perhaps even with distinction, or why else would they assign him a key city like Wuzhou—Xie Erren had no real experience in local administrative work. Taking over a medieval city where everything needed rebuilding, he had harbored "lofty ambitions" but little confidence.
Now the hardest part had passed. Not only were government affairs running smoothly, but Cai Lan's transformation had sent Xie Erren's confidence soaring. He had begun gathering material, preparing to write up his experiences and insights from taking over and governing Wuzhou as a lengthy feature article. At the right moment, he would send it back to Lingao for publication in the "Two Journals and One Paper." Since he had decided to follow the path of local administration, he needed to accumulate political capital as soon as possible.
Just as he was pondering how to frame this long report, someone came in to announce:
"Sanhezu Camp Manager Liu Youwang is here. He says he wants to report work to the Chief in person."
"Oh? What brings him here?" Xie Erren was both somewhat surprised and pleased.
Liu Youwang rarely showed his face in Wuzhou city. Xie Erren's impression of him was actually not bad. The unseemly things Liu Youwang did at Sanhezu weren't entirely unknown to him—he'd heard rumors from naturalized citizens and retained personnel about the man's conduct. But these were just hearsay; no one could produce solid evidence.
Xie Erren felt the rumors likely had some truth to them—after all, such things couldn't be completely eliminated even in Lingao, let alone in a newly opened territory like this. In his mind, Liu Youwang was roughly a "Fu Youdi" type—capable but morally deficient. After all, as one of Wuzhou's most important naturalized citizen cadres, he had managed a camp of several thousand captives and refugees in Sanhezu without any subordinate cadres, relying entirely on retained personnel. These people represented both human resources and a powder keg that could explode at any moment. Yet he had not only kept the camp in order without any riots but had also executed every assigned task precisely and without ambiguity. And all this was accomplished under external security pressure with insufficient grain supplies. Such work capability was quite outstanding among naturalized citizen cadres. Xie Erren had even considered recruiting him.
Since deciding to follow the path of local administration, Xie Erren had paid close attention to naturalized citizen cadres—they would be his left and right hands once he arrived at a new post. He needed to keep a few backup candidates in mind.
Yet Liu Youwang remained somewhat cold toward him. In several conversations, the man had always looked away and spoken of other things. Other naturalized citizen cadres were constantly showing up before Xie Erren, making every excuse to "report work," afraid of failing to make an impression. Only Liu Youwang never came to the city unless there was business, and once his affairs were concluded, he left immediately, resolutely refusing to linger. He just nested in Sanhezu.
For a time, Xie Erren was puzzled—was the man playing dumb, or was he genuinely dense?
Later, he consulted Liu Youwang's cadre file and discovered that before joining the military, Liu Youwang had worked under Huang Chao at the Agricultural Committee. "Suddenly it all made sense"—so Liu Youwang was one of Huang Chao's people! No wonder he was so cool toward Xie Erren!
But Xie Erren didn't give up hope. When Huang Chao went to North Guangdong, his administrative team hadn't included Liu Youwang. This showed that Liu didn't rank highly in Huang Chao's mind—he wasn't trusted with important responsibilities. That being the case, there was still an opportunity to poach him.
"Show him in." Xie Erren wondered what Liu Youwang wanted to discuss, and despite himself, felt a touch of anticipation.
"Reporting to the Chief!" Liu Youwang snapped to attention and delivered a military salute. "Liu Youwang has come to report work."
"Please, sit." Xie Erren studied the man before him with interest. He had never quite liked Liu Youwang's appearance. Phrenology and physiognomy might be denounced as "pseudoscience" in the twenty-first century, and discussing such things was decidedly "politically incorrect." But based on his years of experience in media work, these matters weren't entirely nonsense. Liu Youwang had exactly the typical look of a lower-class villain.
"Yes, Chief. Thank you, Chief." Liu Youwang's heart was somewhat anxious. At first, hearing Chang Qingyun's suggestion, he had been very hesitant. He liked opera, true, but he understood priorities. Chang Qingyun's reasoning was high-sounding enough, but at bottom, singing and listening to opera were just pastimes. At such a critical juncture, personally coming to request opera chests—would the Chief see him as "lacking sense of the bigger picture"? Moreover, the unsavory things he had done in the camp had surely reached the Chief's ears. If he provoked the Chief's anger and old and new accounts were settled together, he'd be finished.
Next Update: Volume 7 - Guangzhou Governance Part 498 (End of Chapter)